Petrol price rises to record high

Diesel costs an additional 9.4 cents per litre and paraffin is up by 12 cents.

The hike brings the cost of petrol to R12.22 per litre in Gauteng and R11.87 per litre for 95 octane petrol. Diesel now costs R10.98 per litre in Gauteng and R10.73 per litre at the coast.

The Department of Energy last week said the increase was due to international oil prices as affecting the petrol price and while global diesel prices dropped, a weaker rand affected the increase.

In April, consumers were hit with an increase of 71 cents a litre.

The department has said that the situation is out of the government's hands and urged South Africans to be more fuel efficient. South Africa is not an oil producing country and its fuel needs depend on the import of oil from other countries.